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Banzai International, Inc. (BNZI)
:BNZI
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Risk Overview Q1, 2024
Risk Distribution
62% Finance & Corporate
17% Tech & Innovation
10% Ability to Sell
7% Legal & Regulatory
2% Production
2% Macro & Political
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
This chart displays the stock's most recent risk distribution according to category. TipRanks has identified 6 major categories: Finance & corporate, legal & regulatory, macro & political, production, tech & innovation, and ability to sell.
Risk Change Over Time
S&P500 Average
Sector Average
Risks removed
Risks added
Risks changed
Banzai International Risk Factors
New Risk (0)
Risk Changed (0)
Risk Removed (0)
No changes from previous report
The chart shows the number of risks a company has disclosed. You can compare this to the sector average or S&P 500 average.
The quarters shown in the chart are according to the calendar year (January to December). Businesses set their own financial calendar, known as a fiscal year. For example, Walmart ends their financial year at the end of January to accommodate the holiday season.
The quarters shown in the chart are according to the calendar year (January to December). Businesses set their own financial calendar, known as a fiscal year. For example, Walmart ends their financial year at the end of January to accommodate the holiday season.
Risk Highlights Q1, 2024
Main Risk Category
Finance & Corporate
With 36 Risks
Finance & Corporate
With 36 Risks
Number of Disclosed Risks
58
S&P 500 Average: 31
58
S&P 500 Average: 31
Recent Changes
0Risks added
0Risks removed
0Risks changed
Since Mar 2024
0Risks added
0Risks removed
0Risks changed
Since Mar 2024
Number of Risk Changed
0
S&P 500 Average: 3
0
S&P 500 Average: 3
See the risk highlights of Banzai International in the last period.
Risk Word Cloud
Currently, no data available
The most common phrases about risk factors from the most recent report. Larger texts indicate more widely used phrases.
Risk Factors Full Breakdown - Total Risks 58
Finance & Corporate
Total Risks: 36/58 (62%)Above Sector Average
Share Price & Shareholder Rights21 | 36.2%
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 1
The market price of our Class A Common Stock is likely to be highly volatile, and you may lose some or all of your investment.Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 2
Volatility in the price of our Class A Common Stock could subject us to securities class action litigation.In the past, securities class action litigation has often been brought against a company following a decline in the market price of its securities. If we face such litigation, it could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management's attention and resources, which could harm our business.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 3
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about us, or publish negative reports, then our stock price and trading volume could decline.The trading market for our Class A Common Stock will depend, in part, on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us. We do not have any control over these analysts. If our financial performance fails to meet analyst estimates or one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our Class A Common Stock or change their opinion, then the market price of our Class A Common Stock would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause the market price of our Class A Common Stock or trading volume to decline.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 4
The DGCL and our Charter and Bylaws contain certain provisions, including anti-takeover provisions, that limit the ability of stockholders to take certain actions and could delay or discourage takeover attempts that stockholders may consider favorable.Our Charter, our Bylaws and the DGCL contain provisions that could have the effect of rendering more difficult, delaying, or preventing an acquisition deemed undesirable by the Board and therefore depress the trading price of our Class A Common Stock. These provisions could also make it difficult for stockholders to take certain actions, including electing directors who are not nominated by the current members of the Board or taking other corporate actions, including effecting changes in our management. Among other things, our Charter and/or Bylaws include provisions regarding:
- that shares of our Class B Common Stock are entitled to 10 votes per share;- the ability of our stockholders to take action by written consent in lieu of a meeting for so long as Mr. Davy and his affiliates and permitted transferees beneficially own a majority of the voting power of the then-outstanding shares of our capital stock;- the ability of the Board to issue shares of Preferred Stock, $0.0001 par value per share ("Preferred Stock"), including "blank check" preferred stock and to determine the price and other terms of those shares, including preferences and voting rights, without stockholder approval, which could be used to significantly dilute the ownership of a hostile acquirer;- the limitation of the liability of, and the indemnification of, our directors and officers;- the requirement that a special meeting of stockholders may be called only by a majority of the entire Board, the chairperson of the Board or the Chief Executive Officer which could delay the ability of stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or to take action, including the removal of directors;- controlling the procedures for the conduct and scheduling of Board and stockholder meetings;- the ability of the Board to amend the Bylaws, which may allow the Board to take additional actions to prevent an unsolicited takeover and inhibit the ability of an acquirer to amend the Bylaws to facilitate an unsolicited takeover attempt; and - advance notice procedures with which stockholders must comply to nominate candidates to the Board or to propose matters to be acted upon at a stockholders' meeting, which could preclude stockholders from bringing matters before annual or special meetings of stockholders and delay changes in the Board, and also may discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer's own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us.
Likewise, because our principal executive offices are located in Washington, the anti-takeover provisions of the Washington Business Corporation Act (the "WBCA") may apply to us under certain circumstances now or in the future. These provisions prohibit a "target corporation" from engaging in any of a broad range of business combinations with any stockholder constituting an "acquiring person" for a period of five years following the date on which the stockholder became an "acquiring person."
These provisions, alone or together, could delay or prevent hostile takeovers and changes in control or changes in the Board or our management.
In addition, our Charter includes a provision substantially similar to Section 203 of the DGCL, which may prohibit certain stockholders holding 15% or more of our outstanding capital stock from engaging in certain business combinations with us for a specified period of time.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 5
Our Charter designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware and, to the extent enforceable, the federal district courts of the United States of America as the exclusive forums for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders, which restricts our stockholders' ability to choose the judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or employees.Our Charter provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for the following types of claims or causes of action under Delaware statutory or common law: any derivative claims or causes of action brought on our behalf; any claims or causes of action asserting a breach of a fiduciary duty; any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to the DGCL, our Charter, or our Bylaws; or any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. In addition, our Charter provides that the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. These choice of forum provisions will not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. Such provisions are intended to benefit and may be enforced by us and our officers and directors, employees and agents.
These provisions may benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law and federal securities laws by chancellors and judges, as applicable, particularly experienced in resolving corporate disputes, efficient administration of cases on a more expedited schedule relative to other forums and protection against the burdens of multi-forum litigation. These choice of forum provisions may limit a stockholder's ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims or make such lawsuits more costly for stockholders, although our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. While the Delaware courts have determined that such choice of forum provisions are facially valid, a stockholder may nevertheless seek to bring a claim in a venue other than those designated in the exclusive forum provisions, and there can be no assurance that such provisions will be enforced by a court in those other jurisdictions. If a court were to find either choice of forum provisions contained in our Charter to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 6
The exclusive forum clause set forth in the Warrant Agreement may have the effect of limiting an investor's rights to bring legal action and could limit the investor's ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum.The Warrant Agreement provides that (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the Warrant Agreement will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and (ii) we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction will be exclusive. We have waived or will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum. However, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce these provisions and investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for state and federal courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the Warrant Agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of the Public Warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in the Warrant Agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope of the forum provisions of the Warrant Agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a "foreign action") in the name of any holder of the Public Warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located within the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an "enforcement action"), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder's counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holder's ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of the Warrant Agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and our Board.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 7
We are an emerging growth company and smaller reporting company, and we cannot be certain if the reduced reporting requirements applicable to emerging growth companies and smaller reporting companies will make our shares less attractive to investors.We are an emerging growth company, as defined in the JOBS Act. For as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not "emerging growth companies," including exemption from compliance with the auditor attestation requirements under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of: (i) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the closing of 7GC's initial public offering (December 22, 2025), (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common equity that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700.0 million as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter; and (ii) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.
In addition, under the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies can delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies. We have elected to use this extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards and, therefore, we will not be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies.
We are also a smaller reporting company as defined in the Exchange Act. Even after we no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, we may still qualify as a smaller reporting company, which would allow us to take advantage of many of the same exemptions from disclosure requirements, including exemption from compliance with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 and reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in this Annual Report and our other periodic reports and proxy statements. We will be able to take advantage of these scaled disclosures for so long as our voting and non-voting Common Stock held by non-affiliates is less than $250.0 million measured on the last business day of our second fiscal quarter, or our annual revenue is less than $100.0 million during the most recently completed fiscal year and our voting and non-voting Common Stock held by non-affiliates is less than $700.0 million measured on the last business day of our second fiscal quarter.
We cannot predict if investors will find our Common Stock less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. If some investors find Common Stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for the Common Stock and its market price may be more volatile.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 8
The Warrants may never be in the money and they may expire worthless and therefore we may not receive cash proceeds from the exercise of the Warrants. The terms of the Warrants may be amended in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding Public Warrants approve of such amendment.As of the date of this Annual Report, we have outstanding 11,500,000 warrants originally issued in 7GC's initial public offering (the "Public Warrants") to purchase 11,500,000 shares of our Class A Common Stock, exercisable at an exercise price of $11.50 per share, which expire on the earlier to occur of December 14, 2028 or redemption, and the GEM Warrant to purchase 828,533 shares of our Class A Common Stock, exercisable at an exercise price of $6.49 per share, which expires on the earlier to occur of December 15, 2026 or redemption (the GEM Warrant and the Public Warrants collectively, the "Warrants"). The exercise of Warrants, and any proceeds we may receive from their exercise, are highly dependent on the price of our Class A Common Stock and the spread between the exercise price of the Warrant and the price of our Class A Common Stock at the time of exercise. For example, to the extent that the price of our Class A Common Stock exceeds $11.50 per share, it is more likely that holders of our Public Warrants will exercise their Public Warrants. If the price of our Class A Common Stock is less than $11.50 per share, it is unlikely that such holders will exercise their Public Warrants. There can be no assurance that our Warrants will be in the money prior to their expiration. Our Public Warrants under certain conditions, as described in the warrant agreement, are redeemable by us at a price of $0.01 per warrant. The GEM Warrant is not redeemable and is exercisable on a cash or cashless basis; if the GEM Warrant is exercised on a "cashless basis," whether or not the GEM Warrant is in the money, we will not receive cash for such exercise. As such, it is possible that we may never generate any cash proceeds from the exercise of our Warrants.
The Warrant Agreement, dated December 22, 2020, with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent (the "Warrant Agreement"), provides that the terms of the Public Warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding Public Warrants to make any other change that affects the interests of the registered holders of the Public Warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the Public Warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding Public Warrants approve of such amendment.
Although our ability to amend the terms of the Public Warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then outstanding Public Warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the Public Warrants, shorten the exercise period, or decrease the number of shares purchasable upon exercise of a Public Warrant.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 9
We may redeem your unexpired Public Warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your Public Warrants worthless.We have the ability to redeem the outstanding Public Warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant if, among other things, the last reported sale price of the underlying Class A Common Stock for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, rights issuances, subdivisions, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like). Redemption of the outstanding Public Warrants as described above could force you to: (i) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so; (ii) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants; or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, the Company expects would be substantially less than the market value of your warrants. Shares of Class A Common Stock have never traded above $18.00 per share.
We have no obligation to notify holders of the Public Warrants that they have become eligible for redemption. However, pursuant to the Warrant Agreement, in the event we decide to redeem the Public Warrants, we are required to mail notice of such redemption to the registered warrant holders not less than 30 days prior to the redemption date. The warrants may be exercised any time after notice of redemption is given and prior to the redemption date.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 10
We may issue additional shares of Common Stock or Preferred Stock, including under our equity incentive plan. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other risks.We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of Common Stock or Preferred Stock, including under our 2023 equity incentive plan, which had 572,172 unissued shares authorized as of December 31, 2023. Any such issuances of additional shares of Common Stock or Preferred Stock:
- may significantly dilute the equity interests of our investors;- may subordinate the rights of holders of Common Stock if preferred stock is issued with rights senior to those afforded our Common Stock;- could cause a change in control if a substantial number of shares of our Common Stock are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; and - may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our Common Stock and/or Public Warrants.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 11
Sales of a substantial number of shares of Class A Common Stock in the public market pursuant to our registration statements could reduce the market price of Class A Common Stock.Sales of a substantial number of shares of Class A Common Stock in the public market pursuant to the registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 276307) (the "S-1 Registration Statement") could occur at any time. These sales, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares of Class A Common Stock intend to sell shares, could reduce the market price of the Class A Common Stock. In particular, until such time as it is no longer effective, the S-1 Registration Statement will permit the resale of shares held by 7GC & Co. Holdings LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the "7GC Sponsor"), who has beneficial ownership of approximately 25.2% of our outstanding shares, and Mr. Joseph Davy, who holds approximately 56.6% of our outstanding voting power, subject, in each case, to the applicable lock-up periods. The resale, or expected or potential resale, of a substantial number of shares of our Class A Common Stock in the public market could adversely affect the market price for the Class A Common Stock and make it more difficult for you to sell your holdings at times and prices that you determine are appropriate. Furthermore, we expect that, because there is a large number of shares registered pursuant to the S-1 Registration Statement, the selling securityholders will continue to offer the securities covered thereby pursuant to the S-1 Registration Statement or pursuant to Rule 144 for a significant period of time, the precise duration of which cannot be predicted. Accordingly, the adverse market and price pressures resulting from an offering pursuant to the registration statement may continue for an extended period of time. We may also file additional registration statements in connection with the possible sale of other securities.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 12
If certain holders of the Class A Common Stock sell a significant portion of their securities, it may negatively impact the market price of the shares of the Class A Common Stock and such holders still may receive significant proceeds.As of the date of this Annual Report, the market price of our Class A Common Stock is below $10.00 per share, which was the price per unit sold in the initial public offering, the per-share value of the consideration issued to Legacy Banzai stockholders upon consummation of the Business Combination. However, certain of our stockholders hold shares of Class A Common Stock that were originally purchased by the 7GC Sponsor in a private placement prior to 7GC's initial public offering ("Founder Shares") and may nonetheless be inclined to sell such Founder Shares, as they were originally purchased at an effective price significantly less than $10.00 per share. The currently outstanding 4,173,499 Founder Shares, representing 23.5% of our Class A Common Stock as of March 22, 2024, were purchased at an effective price of $0.0050 per share. Accordingly, holders of the Founder Shares could sell their securities at a per-share price that is less than $10.00 and still realize a significant profit from the sale of those securities that could not be realized by our other stockholders. On March 22, 2024, the closing price of our Class A Common Stock was $0.63. Based on this closing price, the aggregate sales price of the Founder Shares would be approximately $3.2 million.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 13
It is not possible to predict the actual number of shares we will sell under the SEPA, or the actual gross proceeds resulting from those sales. Further, we may not have access to any or the full amount available under the SEPA.On December 14, 2023, we entered into the SEPA with Yorkville, pursuant to which Yorkville has committed to purchase up to $100 million of Class A Common Stock, pursuant to Advance Notices delivered by the Company any time during the commitment period terminating on the 36-month anniversary of the SEPA; provided that any Advance Notice may only be made if (x) no amount remains outstanding on the Yorkville Promissory Notes, (y) there is an effective Resale Registration Statement filed with the SEC for the resale under the Securities Act of the shares of Class A Common Stock to be issued pursuant to such Advance Notice, and (z) other customary conditions precedent. Additionally, at any time during the commitment period, provided there is a balance remaining outstanding under a Yorkville Promissory Note, Yorkville may deliver an Investor Notice, causing an Advance Notice to be deemed delivered to Yorkville, subject to certain conditions.
Save for the issuance of shares of Class A Common Stock following receipt of an Investor Notice (as defined in the SEPA) or pursuant to conversion of a Yorkville Promissory Note, we generally have the right to control the timing and amount of any sales of shares of Class A Common Stock to Yorkville under the SEPA. Sales of Class A Common Stock, if any, to Yorkville under the SEPA will depend upon market conditions and other factors to be determined by us. We may ultimately decide to sell to Yorkville all, some or none of the shares of Class A Common Stock that may be available for us to sell to Yorkville pursuant to the SEPA.
Because the purchase price per share to be paid by Yorkville for the shares of Class A Common Stock that we may elect to sell to Yorkville under the SEPA, if any, will fluctuate based on the market prices of Class A Common Stock prior to each sale made pursuant to the SEPA, if any, it is not possible for us to predict, as of the date of this Annual Report and prior to any such sales, the number of shares of Class A Common Stock that we will sell to Yorkville under the SEPA, the purchase price per share that Yorkville will pay for shares purchased from us under the SEPA, or the aggregate gross proceeds that we will receive from those purchases by Yorkville under the SEPA, if any.
Moreover, although the SEPA provides that we may issue up to an aggregate of $100 million of our Class A Common Stock to Yorkville, only 5,726,282 shares of Class A Common Stock (excluding 300,000 shares issued to Yorkville in lieu of a commitment fee at Closing) were registered for resale under the S-1 Registration Statement. If we issue to Yorkville all of the 5,726,282 shares of Class A Common Stock registered for resale under the S-1 Registration Statement, depending on the market price of our Class A Common Stock prior to each Advance made pursuant to the SEPA, the actual gross proceeds from the sale of all such shares may be substantially less than the $100 million available to us under the SEPA.
If it becomes necessary for us to issue to Yorkville under the SEPA more than the 5,726,282 shares of Class A Common Stock registered for resale under the S-1 Registration Statement in order to receive aggregate gross proceeds equal to $100 million under the SEPA, we must file with the SEC one or more additional registration statements to register under the Securities Act the resale by Yorkville of any such additional shares of Class A Common Stock we wish to issue from time to time under the SEPA, which the SEC must declare effective.
The SEPA does not obligate Yorkville to subscribe for or acquire any shares of Class A Common Stock under the SEPA if those shares of Class A Common Stock, when aggregated with all other shares of Class A Common Stock acquired by Yorkville under the SEPA, would result in Yorkville beneficially owning more than 9.99% of the then outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 14
As a "controlled company" within the meaning of Nasdaq listing rules, we qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements and have the opportunity to elect to avail ourselves of any of the exemptions afforded a controlled company. If we elect to rely on some of these exemptions, our stockholders will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to such requirements.Because Mr. Davy controls more than a majority of our total voting power, we are a "controlled company" within the meaning of Nasdaq corporate governance listing rules. Under Nasdaq listing rules, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, a group or another company is a "controlled company" and may elect not to comply with certain Nasdaq rules regarding corporate governance, including the following:
- the requirement that a majority of its board of directors consist of independent directors;- the requirement director nominees must be selected, or recommended for selection, by either (i) the independent directors constituting a majority of the board of directors' independent directors in a vote in which only independent directors participate or (ii) a nominations committee comprised solely of independent directors;- the requirement to maintain a compensation committee with prescribed duties and a written charter comprised solely of independent directors; and - the requirement of an annual performance evaluation of our nominating and corporate governance and compensation committees.
As a "controlled company," we may elect to rely on some or all of these exemptions. Despite the fact that we currently do not intend to take advantage of these exemptions, our status as a controlled company could make Common Stock less attractive to some investors or otherwise harm the stock price of Class A Common Stock. Further, if we elect to rely on some or all of these exemptions, our stockholders will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of Nasdaq.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 15
We cannot predict the impact our dual class structure will have on the market price of Class A Common Stock.We cannot predict whether our dual class common stock structure will result in a lower or more volatile market price of Class A Common Stock or in adverse publicity or other adverse consequences. For example, certain index providers have announced restrictions on including companies with multiple-class share structures in certain of their indices. Under the announced policies, our dual class capital structure would make us ineligible for inclusion in certain indices, and as a result, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, and other investment vehicles that attempt to passively track those indices will not invest in Class A Common Stock. These policies are still fairly new and it is as of yet unclear what effect, if any, they will have on the valuations of publicly traded companies excluded from the indices, but it is possible that they may depress these valuations compared to those of other similar companies that are included. Because of our dual class structure, we will likely be excluded from certain of these indices and we cannot assure you that other stock indices will not take similar actions. Given the sustained flow of investment funds into passive strategies that seek to track certain indices, exclusion from stock indices would likely preclude investment by many of these funds and could make Class A Common Stock less attractive to other investors. As a result, the market price of Class A Common Stock could be adversely affected.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 16
Our dual class common stock structure has the effect of concentrating voting power with our Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Joseph Davy, which limits an investor's ability to influence the outcome of important transactions, including a change in control.Shares of our Class B Common Stock have 10 votes per share, while shares of our Class A Common Stock have one vote per share. Mr. Davy, who is our Chief Executive Officer and is Legacy Banzai's Co-Founder, including his affiliates and permitted transferees, will hold all of the issued and outstanding shares of Class B Common Stock. Accordingly, Mr. Davy held, directly or indirectly, approximately 56.6% of our outstanding voting power as of March 22, 2024 and is able to control matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of directors, amendments of our organizational documents and any merger, consolidation, sale of all or substantially all of our assets or other major corporate transactions. Mr. Davy may have interests that differ from yours and may vote in a way with which you disagree and which may be adverse to your interests. This concentrated control may have the effect of delaying, preventing, or deterring a change in control, could deprive our stockholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their capital stock as part of a sale, and might ultimately affect the market price of Class A Common Stock.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 17
If our Class A Common Stock ceases to be listed on a national securities exchange it will become subject to the so-called "penny stock" rules that impose restrictive sales practice requirements.If we are unable to maintain the listing of our Class A Common Stock on the Nasdaq Global Market or another national securities exchange, our Class A Common Stock could become subject to the so-called "penny stock" rules if the shares have a market value of less than $5.00 per share. The SEC has adopted regulations that define a penny stock to include any stock that has a market price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exceptions, including an exception for stock traded on a national securities exchange. The SEC regulations impose restrictive sales practice requirements on broker-dealers who sell penny stocks to persons other than established customers and accredited investors. For transactions covered by this rule, the broker-dealer must make a special suitability determination for the purchaser and must have received the purchaser's written consent to the transaction prior to sale. This means that if we are unable maintain the listing of our Class A Common Stock on a national securities exchange, the ability of stockholders to sell their common stock in the secondary market could be adversely affected. If a transaction involving a penny stock is not exempt from the SEC's rule, a broker-dealer must deliver a disclosure schedule relating to the penny stock market to each investor prior to a transaction. The broker-dealer also must disclose the commissions payable to both the broker-dealer and its registered representative, current quotations for the penny stock, and, if the broker-dealer is the sole market-maker, the broker-dealer must disclose this fact and the broker-dealer's presumed control over the market. Finally, monthly statements must be sent disclosing recent price information for the penny stock held in the customer's account and information on the limited market in penny stocks.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 18
The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC ("Nasdaq") may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors' ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.On February 5, 2024, we received a letter from the staff at Nasdaq notifying us that, for 30 consecutive business days prior to the date of the letter, our Minimum Value of Listed Securities ("MVLS") was below the minimum of $50 million required for continued listing on The Nasdaq Global Market pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5450(b)(2)(A). The staff at Nasdaq also noted that we were not in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5450(b)(3)(A), which requires listed companies to have total assets and total revenue of at least $50,000,000 each for the most recently completed fiscal year or for two of the three most recently completed fiscal years. We have 180 calendar days, or until August 5, 2024, to regain compliance.
If Nasdaq delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
- a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;- reduced liquidity for our securities;- a determination that our common stock is a "penny stock" which will require brokers trading in our Class A Common Stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities;- a limited amount of news and analyst coverage;- a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future; and - being subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 19
Issuances of shares of our Class A Common Stock pursuant to any Advances under the SEPA, exercise of the GEM Warrant and conversion of any amounts under certain promissory notes would result in substantial dilution of our stockholders and may have a negative impact on the market price of our Class A Common Stock.At Closing, certain convertible promissory notes dated as of February 19, 2021 and October 10, 2022, issued by Legacy Banzai to the Lender (the "Senior Convertible Notes"), and the obligation to issue the GEM Warrant automatically became our obligation. On December 15, 2023, we issued the GEM Warrant in the amount of 828,533 shares of Class A Common Stock at an exercise price of $6.49 per share, which will be adjusted to 105% of the then-current exercise price if, on the one-year anniversary date of the date of issuance, the GEM Warrant has not been exercised in full and the average closing price per share of shares of Class A Common Stock for the 10 days preceding the anniversary date is less than 90% of the initial exercise price. GEM may exercise the GEM Warrant at any time and from time to time until December 14, 2026.
On February 5, 2024, we issued in a private placement to GEM a promissory note (the "GEM Promissory Note"), which is convertible upon nonpayment of and in lieu of a monthly payment in the amount of $100,000, payable for ten months on the first of the month starting on March 1, 2024. The GEM Promissory Note provides for the issuance of shares of Class A Common Stock at a conversion price equal to the VWAP of the trading day immediately preceding the applicable payment due date. As of the date of this Annual Report, we have issued an aggregate of 139,470 shares of Class A Common Stock to GEM in lieu of monthly payment obligations.
The shares of Class A Common Stock issuable pursuant to the GEM Warrant, the GEM Promissory Note, and the Senior Convertible Note (collectively, the "Notes"), to the extent exercised, converted and issued, would impose significant dilution on our stockholders. Based on the total number of shares outstanding as of March 22, 2024, and a stock price of $0.63, up to 828,533 and 2,456,861 additional shares of Class A Common Stock may be issued assuming full exercise and conversion (and no adjustments to the exercise or conversion price thereof) of each of the GEM Warrant and the Notes, respectively, which would reflect approximately 4.67% or 13.84% respectively, of the outstanding shares of our Class A Common Stock as of the date hereof after giving effect to such issuances.
Pursuant to the SEPA, subject to certain conditions and Yorkville's right to require issuances while its promissory notes are outstanding, we have the option, but not the obligation, to sell to Yorkville, and Yorkville will subscribe for, an aggregate amount of up to $100,000,000 of shares of Class A Common Stock, at our request any time during the commitment period terminating on the 36-month anniversary of the Original SEPA; provided that any advance we request under the SEPA (notice of such request, an "Advance Notice") may only be made if (x) no amount remains outstanding on the Yorkville Promissory Notes (as defined below), (y) there is an effective registration statement (any such registration statement, a "Resale Registration Statement") filed with the SEC for the resale under the Securities Act, of the shares of Class A Common Stock to be issued pursuant to such Advance Notice, and (z) other customary conditions precedent. The price at which we may issue and sell shares pursuant to an Advance under the SEPA may be at either (a) 95% of the daily volume weighted average price ("VWAP") of the Class A Common Stock for the period commencing on the receipt of the Advance Notice by Yorkville and ending on 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the applicable date of the Advance Notice ("Pricing Option 1") or (b) 96% of the lowest daily VWAP of the Class A Common Stock during the three consecutive trading days commencing on the date of the Advance Notice to Yorkville ("Pricing Option 2"), provided that we are subject to certain caps on the amount of shares of Class A Common Stock that we may sell pursuant to any advance under the SEPA. Assuming that (a) we issue and sell the full $100 million of shares of Class A Common Stock under the SEPA to Yorkville, (b) no beneficial ownership limitations, and (c) the issue price for such sales is $1.00 or $3.00 per share, such additional issuances would represent in the aggregate approximately 100,000,000 or 33,333,333 additional shares of Class A Common Stock, respectively, or approximately 563% or 188% of the total number of shares of Class A Common Stock outstanding as of March 22, 2024, after giving effect to such issuance.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 20
Future sales of shares of Class A Common Stock may depress their stock price.Future sales of shares of Class A Common Stock in the public market, including the resale of shares pursuant to our effective registration statements or pursuant to Rule 144, could depress the stock price. See "Sales of a substantial number of shares of Class A Common Stock in the public market pursuant to our registration statements could reduce the market price of Class A Common Stock." Subject to certain exceptions, the Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement executed at the time of the Closing provides for certain restrictions on transfer with respect to our securities. Such restrictions began upon such closing and end the earliest of (A) 180 days after the closing and (B) the first date on which (x) the closing price of our Class A Common Stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the closing or (y) we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of our Class A Common Stock for cash, securities, or other property.
In connection with the execution of the Merger Agreement, we and certain stockholders of Legacy Banzai, including Legacy Banzai's officers, directors, and certain holders of 10% or more of the outstanding shares of Legacy Banzai Common Stock as of the date of the Merger Agreement, entered into the lock-up agreements effective as of the Closing Date (the "Lock-Up Agreements"). Pursuant to the Lock-up Agreements, such stockholders agree not to, without our prior written consent (subject to certain exceptions): (i) sell, offer to sell, contract or agree to sell, hypothecate, pledge, grant any option to purchase or otherwise dispose of or agree to dispose of, directly or indirectly, or establish or increase a put equivalent position or liquidate or decrease a call equivalent position within the meaning of Section 16 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and the rules and regulations of the SEC promulgated thereunder, any shares of Common Stock held by him, her, or it immediately after the Closing, any shares of Common Stock issuable upon the exercise of options to purchase shares, or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock held by him, her, or it immediately after such closing, (ii) enter into any swap or other arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of any of such shares of Common Stock or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock, whether any such transaction is to be settled by delivery of such securities, in cash or otherwise, or (iii) publicly announce any intention to effect any transaction specified in clause (i) or (ii) until 180 days after the Closing.
Additionally, Cantor is subject to a 12-month lock-up period with respect to the Class A Common Stock issued pursuant to a fee reduction agreement relating to deferred underwriting fees that were payable to Cantor upon the Closing (the "Fee Reduction Agreement"), subject to customary exceptions.
However, equityholders not subject to a lock-up and, following the expiration of the applicable lock-up periods, such equityholders referred to above will not be restricted from selling shares of our Common Stock held by them, other than by applicable securities laws, and sales could occur at any time and such sales could depress the stock price.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 21
Our executive officers, and directors collectively beneficially own approximately 75.37% of the voting power of our outstanding Common Stock and have substantial control over us, which will limit your ability to influence the outcome of important transactions, including a change in control.Our executive officers and directors, in the aggregate, beneficially own approximately 75.37% of the voting power of our outstanding shares of Common Stock as of the date of this Annual Report, based on the number of shares outstanding as of March 22, 2024. As a result, these stockholders, if acting together, will be able to influence or control matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of directors and the approval of mergers, acquisitions, or other extraordinary transactions. They may also have interests that differ from yours and may vote in a way with which you disagree and which may be adverse to your interests. This concentration of ownership may have the effect of delaying, preventing, or deterring a change in control of the Company, could deprive our stockholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their Class A Common Stock as part of a sale of the Company, and might ultimately affect the market price of our Class A Common Stock.
Accounting & Financial Operations8 | 13.8%
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 1
It is not currently anticipated that we will pay dividends on shares of our Class A Common Stock, and, consequently, your ability to achieve a return on your investment will depend on appreciation, if any, in the market price of the Class A Common Stock.Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 2
If our estimates or judgments relating to our critical accounting policies prove to be incorrect or financial reporting standards or interpretations change, our results of operations could be adversely affected.The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. We will base our estimates on historical experience, known trends and events, and various other factors that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, as provided in the section titled "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations-Critical Accounting Estimates." The results of these estimates form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Significant assumptions and estimates used in preparing our financial statements include, but are not limited to, estimates of impairment on goodwill, recognition and measurement of convertible, warrants and SAFEs, including the valuation of the bifurcated embedded derivatives liabilities, and measurement and recognition of stock-based compensation. Our results of operations may be adversely affected if our assumptions change or if actual circumstances differ from those in our assumptions, which could cause our results of operations to fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in the trading price of our Class A Common Stock.
Additionally, we will regularly monitor our compliance with applicable financial reporting standards and review new pronouncements and drafts thereof that are relevant to us. As a result of new standards, changes to existing standards, and changes in their interpretation, we might be required to change our accounting policies, alter our operational policies, and implement new or enhance existing systems so that they reflect new or amended financial reporting standards, or we may be required to restate our published financial statements. Such changes to existing standards or changes in their interpretation may have an adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial position, and profit.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 3
Because we recognize revenue from subscriptions for our product offerings over the terms of the subscriptions, our financial results in any period may not be indicative of our financial health and future performance.We generally recognize revenue from subscription fees paid by customers ratably over the terms of their subscription agreements. As a result, most of the subscription revenue we report in each quarter is the result of agreements entered into during previous quarters. Consequently, a decline in new or renewed subscriptions in any one quarter will not be fully reflected in our revenue results for that quarter. Any such decline, however, will negatively affect our revenue in future quarters. Our subscription model also makes it difficult for us to rapidly increase our revenue through additional sales in any period, as subscription revenue from new customers must be recognized over the applicable subscription terms.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 4
Our business, results of operations, and financial condition may fluctuate on a quarterly and annual basis, which may result in a decline in our stock price if such fluctuations result in a failure to meet any projections that we may provide or the expectations of securities analysts or investors.Our operating results have in the past and could in the future vary significantly from quarter-to-quarter and year-to-year and may fail to match our past performance, our projections, or the expectations of securities analysts because of a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control and, as a result, should not be relied upon as an indicator of future performance. As a result, we may not be able to accurately forecast our operating results and growth rate. Any of these events could cause the market price of Class A Common Stock to fluctuate. Factors that may contribute to the variability of our operating results include:
- our ability to attract new customers and retain existing customers;- the financial condition of our current and potential customers;- changes in our sales and implementation cycles;- introductions and expansions of our product offerings, offerings, or challenges with their introduction;- changes in our pricing or fee structures or those of our competitors;- the timing and success of new offering introductions by us or our competitors or any other change in the competitive landscape of our industry;- increases in operating expenses that we may incur to grow and expand our operations and to remain competitive;- our ability to successfully expand our business;- breaches of information security or privacy;- changes in stock-based compensation expenses;- the amount and timing of operating costs and capital expenditures related to the expansion of our business;- adverse litigation judgments, settlements, or other litigation-related costs;- the cost and potential outcomes of ongoing or future regulatory investigations or examinations, or of future litigation;- changes in our effective tax rate;- our ability to make accurate accounting estimates and appropriately recognize revenue for our existing and future offerings;- changes in accounting standards, policies, guidance, interpretations, or principles;- instability in the financial markets;- general economic conditions, both domestic and international;- volatility in the global financial markets;- political, economic, and social instability, including terrorist activities and outbreaks of public health threats, such as coronavirus, influenza, or other highly communicable diseases or viruses, and any disruption these events may cause to the global economy; and - changes in business or macroeconomic conditions.
The impact of one or more of the foregoing and other factors may cause our operating results to vary significantly. As such, we believe that quarter-to-quarter and year-to-year comparisons of our operating results may not be meaningful and should not be relied upon as an indication of future performance.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 5
Any forecasts, projections or outlook we may provide are based upon certain assumptions, analyses, and estimates. If these assumptions, analyses, or estimates prove to be incorrect or inaccurate, our actual results may differ materially from those forecasted or projected.Any forecasts, projections or outlook, including projected annual recurring revenue, revenue growth, cost of goods sold, operating expense, gross margin, and anticipated organic and inorganic growth, are subject to significant uncertainty and are based on certain assumptions, analyses, and estimates, including with reference to third-party forecasts, any or all of which may prove to be incorrect or inaccurate. These may include assumptions, analyses, and estimates about future pricing, and future costs, all of which are subject to a wide variety of business, regulatory, and competitive risks and uncertainties. If these assumptions, analyses, or estimates prove to be incorrect or inaccurate, our actual results may differ materially from those forecasted or projected, and may adversely affect the value of our Class A Common Stock.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 6
We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting in the past. If we are unable to remediate these material weaknesses, or if we identify additional material weaknesses in the future or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to accurately or timely report our financial condition or results of operations, which may adversely affect our business and stock price.Prior to the Closing, Legacy Banzai was a private company with limited accounting personnel to adequately execute its accounting processes and limited supervisory resources with which to address its internal control over financial reporting. In connection with the audit of Legacy Banzai's financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2022 and continuing through year ended December 31, 2023, Legacy Banzai identified material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting. A material weakness is a deficiency or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of Legacy Banzai's annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
Legacy Banzai did not design or maintain an effective control environment under the rules and regulations of the SEC. Accordingly and specifically, (i) management does not have appropriate IT general control in place over change management, user access, cybersecurity, and reviews of service organizations, (ii) management does not have suitable COSO entity level controls in place, including reviews of the financial statements, and certain entity level controls were not performed by management, and (iii) pervasive transactional and account level reconciliations and analyses are not performed, or not performed with sufficient detail to prevent or detect a material weakness. These issues related to managements controls over the review of complex significant transactions, complex debt and equity, income and sales taxes, & revenue recognition.
We have taken certain steps, such as recruiting additional personnel, in addition to utilizing third-party consultants and specialists, to supplement our internal resources, to enhance our internal control environment and plans to take additional steps to remediate the material weaknesses. Although we plan to complete this remediation process as quickly as possible, we cannot at this time estimate how long it will take. We cannot assure you that the measures taken to date and to be taken in the future, will be sufficient to remediate the control deficiencies that led to Legacy Banzai's material weakness in internal control over financial reporting or that it will prevent or avoid potential future material weaknesses. If the steps we take do not correct the material weakness in a timely manner, we will be unable to conclude that we maintain effective internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, there could continue to be a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our financial statements would not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
Any failure to remediate existing material weaknesses, or to develop or maintain effective controls or any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement could harm our results of operations or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and may result in a restatement of our financial statements for prior periods. Any failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting also could adversely affect the results of periodic management evaluations and annual independent registered public accounting firm attestation reports regarding the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting that we will eventually be required to include in our periodic reports that will be filed with the SEC. Ineffective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial and other information, which would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of our Class A Common Stock. In addition, if we are unable to continue to meet these requirements, we may not be able to remain listed on Nasdaq. We will not be required to comply with the SEC rules that implement Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and will therefore not be required to make a formal assessment of the effectiveness of control over financial reporting for that purpose. As a public company, we will be required to provide an annual management report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting commencing with our second annual report on Form 10-K. Our independent registered public accounting firm will not be required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting until after we are no longer an "emerging growth company" as defined in the JOBS Act. At such time, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our internal control over financial reporting is documented, designed, or operating. Any failure to maintain effective disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations and could cause a decline in the price of our Class A Common Stock.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 7
We have a limited operating history with our current offerings, which makes it difficult to evaluate our current and future business prospects and increases the risk of your investment.While we served our first customer in 2017 (operating as Legacy Banzai), we have significantly altered our product offerings over the past few years. Our limited operating history with respect to our current product offerings makes it difficult to effectively assess or forecast our future prospects. For example, in 2021, we acquired Demio Holding, Inc., a Delaware corporation ("Demio"), a webinar platform startup, and integrated Demio's platform into our service offerings and in 2023, we launched Boost, a tool used by Demio customers to enhance participation in their Demio webinars. You should consider our business and prospects in light of the risks and difficulties we encounter or may encounter. These risks and difficulties include our ability to cost-effectively acquire new customers, retain existing customers, and expand the scope of the platform we sell to new and existing customers. Furthermore, in pursuit of our growth strategy, we may enter into new partnerships to further penetrate our targeted markets and adoption of our solutions, but it is uncertain whether these efforts will be successful. If we fail to address the risks and difficulties that we may face, including those associated with the challenges listed above, our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results may be materially and adversely harmed.
It is difficult to predict our future revenues and appropriately budget for our expenses, and we have limited insight into trends that may emerge and affect our business. In the event that actual results differ from our estimates or we adjust our estimates in future periods, our operating results and financial position could be materially affected.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 8
We have incurred significant operating losses in the past and may never achieve or maintain profitability.We have incurred significant operating losses since our inception, including operating losses of $9.8 million, and $6.2 million, in the years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022, respectively. We expect our costs will increase substantially in the foreseeable future and our losses will continue as we expect to invest significant additional funds towards growing our business and operating as a public company and as we continue to invest in increasing our customer base, expanding our operations, hiring additional sales and other personnel, developing future products, and potentially acquiring complementary technology and businesses. These efforts may prove more expensive than we currently anticipate, and we may not succeed in increasing our revenue sufficiently to offset these higher expenses. We are unable to accurately predict when, or if, we will be able to achieve profitability. Even if we achieve profitability in the future, we may not be able to sustain profitability in subsequent periods. To date, we have financed our operations principally from the sale of our equity, revenue from sales, and the incurrence of indebtedness. Our cash flow from operations was negative for the year ended December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively, and we may not generate positive cash flow from operations in any given period. If we are not able to achieve or maintain positive cash flow in the long term, we may require additional financing, which may not be available on favorable terms or at all and/or which would be dilutive to our stockholders. If we are unable to successfully address these risks and challenges as we encounter them, our business may be harmed. Our failure to achieve or maintain profitability or positive cash flow could negatively impact the value of our Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 ("Class A Common Stock"), or Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 ("Class B Common Stock" and, collectively with the Class A Common Stock, the "Common Stock").
Debt & Financing3 | 5.2%
Debt & Financing - Risk 1
There is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern, and holders of our securities could suffer a total loss of their investment. We may need to raise additional capital to continue our operations. Such capital may not be available to us or may not be available at terms we deem acceptable, either of which could reduce our ability to compete and could negatively affect our business.Debt & Financing - Risk 2
In order to support the growth of our business and repay our indebtedness, we will need to seek capital through new equity or debt financings or incur additional indebtedness under our credit facilities, which sources of additional capital may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all.Our operations have consumed substantial amounts of cash since inception, and we intend to continue to make significant investments to support our business growth, respond to business challenges or opportunities, develop new applications and solutions, enhance our existing product offerings, enhance our operating infrastructure, and acquire complementary businesses and technologies. For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, Legacy Banzai's net cash used in operating activities was $1.6 million and $5.2 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, Legacy Banzai had $2.1 million and $1.0 million of cash, respectively, which were held for working capital purposes. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, Legacy Banzai had borrowings of $16.2 million and $13.7 million, respectively, outstanding under its term loans and promissory notes.
Our future capital requirements may be significantly different from previous estimates and will depend on many factors, including the need to:
- finance unanticipated working capital requirements;- develop or enhance our technological infrastructure and our existing product offerings;- fund strategic relationships, including joint ventures and co-investments;- fund additional implementation engagements;- respond to competitive pressures; and - acquire complementary businesses, technologies, products, or services.
Accordingly, we may need to engage in equity or debt financings to secure additional funds. We entered into a standby equity purchase agreement (the "SEPA"), dated December 14, 2023, with an entity managed by Yorkville Advisors Global, LP ("Yorkville") to provide liquidity to us after the Business Combination, but there can be no guarantee that we will be able to affect any advances under the SEPA or to secure additional financing on favorable terms, or at all. To the extent that cash on hand and cash generated from operations are not sufficient to fund capital requirements, or if we do not meet the conditions to sell shares to Yorkville under the SEPA, we may require proceeds from asset sales, additional debt, equity financing, or alternative financing structures. In addition, if we do not identify additional financing to refinance our existing Loan Agreement prior to the expiration of the forbearance granted by our Lender through the date that is six months following the Closing, we will be in default of our obligations under the Loan Agreement. Additional financing may not be available on favorable terms, or at all.
If we raise additional funds through further issuances of equity or convertible debt securities, including shares of Common Stock issued in connection with advances under the SEPA or upon exercise of the warrant issued in a private placement to GEM Global Yield LLC SCS and GEM Yield Bahamas Limited (collectively, "GEM") in connection with Closing (the "GEM Warrant"), our existing stockholders could suffer significant dilution, and any new equity securities we issue could have rights, preferences, and privileges superior to those of holders of shares of our Class A Common Stock. Any debt financing secured by us in the future could involve additional restrictive covenants relating to our capital-raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. In addition, during times of economic instability, it has been difficult for many companies to obtain financing in the public markets or to obtain debt financing, and we may not be able to obtain additional financing on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us when we need or want it, it could harm our business.
Debt & Financing - Risk 3
Covenant restrictions in our existing or future debt instruments may limit our flexibility to operate and grow our business, and if we are not able to comply with such covenants or pay amounts when due, our lenders could accelerate our indebtedness, proceed against certain collateral or exercise other remedies, which could have a material adverse effect on us.On February 19, 2021, we entered into a loan agreement with CP BF Lending LLC (our "Lender" and such agreement, the "Loan Agreement"). The Loan Agreement contains a number of provisions that impose operating and financial restrictions which, subject to certain exceptions, limit our ability to, among other things: incur additional indebtedness, pay dividends or make distributions or redeem or repurchase our securities, make certain investments, grant liens on assets, sell or dispose of any material assets; and acquire the assets of, or merge or consolidate with, other companies. Additionally, the Loan Agreement contains affirmative covenants that require to us take, and have taken by certain dates, specific actions, some of which have not been satisfied. As a result, on August 24, 2023, we entered into a forbearance agreement with our Lender (the "Original Forbearance Agreement"), as amended by the First Amendment to Forbearance Agreement, dated as of December 14, 2023 (the "Forbearance Amendment" and, together with the Original Forbearance Agreement, the "Forbearance Agreement"), under which we acknowledged that we were in default of several obligations and such holder acknowledged such defaults and agreed, subject to certain conditions, not to exercise any right or remedy under the Loan Agreement, including its right to accelerate the aggregate amount outstanding under the Loan Agreement, until the date that is six months after the closing of the Business Combination (the "Closing").
Complying with these covenants, as well as those that may be contained in any future debt agreements, may limit our ability to finance our future operations or working capital needs or to take advantage of future business opportunities. Our ability to comply with these covenants will depend on our future performance, which may be affected by events beyond our control. If we do not maintain and regain compliance with our continuing obligations or any covenants, terms and conditions of the Loan Agreement, after the expiration of the Forbearance Agreement, we could be in default and required to repay outstanding borrowings on an accelerated basis, which could subject us to decreased liquidity and other negative impacts on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In the case of an event of default, we may not have sufficient funds available to make the required payments under the Loan Agreement and may not be able to borrow sufficient funds to refinance the Loan Agreement. Even if new financing is available, it may not be on terms that are acceptable to us. If we are unable to repay amounts owed under the terms of the Loan Agreement, our Lender may choose to exercise its remedies in respect to the collateral, including a foreclosure of their lien (which may result in a sale of certain of our assets to satisfy our obligations under the Loan Agreement or ultimately in a bankruptcy or liquidation). The foregoing would materially and adversely affect the ongoing viability of our business.
Corporate Activity and Growth4 | 6.9%
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 1
Our management team has a limited history working together operating the Company and, as a result, our past results may not be indicative of future operating performance.Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 2
We may be unable to successfully execute on our growth initiatives, business strategies, or operating plans.We are continually executing on growth initiatives, strategies, and operating plans designed to enhance our business and extend our existing and future offerings to address evolving needs. The anticipated benefits from these efforts are based on several assumptions that may prove to be inaccurate. Moreover, we may not be able to successfully complete these growth initiatives, strategies, and operating plans and realize all of the benefits, including growth targets and cost savings, that we expect to achieve, or it may be more costly to do so than we anticipate. A variety of risks could cause us not to realize some or all of the expected benefits. These risks include, among others, delays in the anticipated timing of activities related to such growth initiatives, strategies, and operating plans, increased difficulty and cost in implementing these efforts, including difficulties in complying with new regulatory requirements, the incurrence of other unexpected costs associated with operating our business, and lack of acceptance by our customers. Moreover, our continued implementation of these programs may disrupt our operations and performance. As a result, we cannot assure you that we will realize these benefits. If, for any reason, the benefits we realize are less than our estimates or the implementation of these growth initiatives, strategies, and operating plans adversely affect our operations or cost more or take longer to effectuate than we expect, or if our assumptions prove inaccurate, our business may be harmed.
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 3
If we fail to effectively manage our growth, our business, results of operations, and financial condition would likely be harmed.We expect to continue to experience growth in our headcount and operations, which will continue to place significant demands on our management and our administrative, operational, and financial reporting resources. Our growth will require hiring additional employees and making significant expenditures, particularly in sales and marketing but also in our technology, professional services, finance, and administration teams. Our ability to effectively manage our growth will require the allocation of management and employee resources along with improvements to operational and financial controls and reporting procedures and systems. Our expenses may increase more than we plan, and we may fail to hire qualified personnel, expand our customer base, enhance our existing products, develop new products, integrate any acquisitions, satisfy the requirements of our existing customers, respond to competitive challenges, or otherwise execute our strategies. If we are unable to effectively manage our growth, our business, results of operations, and financial condition would likely be harmed.
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 4
Our acquisitions of, and investments in, other businesses, products, or technologies may not yield expected benefits and our inability to successfully integrate acquisitions may negatively impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.In the past, we have pursued acquisitions of technology and expertise to enhance the products and services we offer. For example, in 2021, we acquired webinar platform startup Demio and integrated Demio's platform into our service offerings. We anticipate that we will continue to make acquisitions of or investments in businesses, products, and technologies in the future. We may not realize the anticipated benefits, or any benefits, from our past or future acquisitions. In addition, if we finance acquisitions by incurring debt or by issuing equity or convertible or other debt securities, our then-existing stockholders may be diluted or we could face constraints related to the repayment of indebtedness. To the extent that the acquisition consideration is paid in the form of an earnout on future financial results, the success of such an acquisition will not be fully realized by us for a period of time as it is shared with the sellers. Further, if we fail to properly evaluate and execute acquisitions or investments, our business and prospects may be harmed and the value of your investment may decline. For us to realize the benefits of past and future acquisitions, we must successfully integrate the acquired businesses, products, or technologies with ours. Some of the challenges to successful integration of our acquisitions include:
- unanticipated costs or liabilities resulting from our acquisitions;- retention of key employees from acquired businesses;- difficulties integrating acquired operations, personnel, technologies, or products;- diversion of management attention from existing business operations and strategy;- diversion of resources that are needed in other parts of our business, including integration of other acquisitions;- potential write-offs of acquired assets;- inability to maintain relationships with customers and partners of the acquired businesses;- difficulty of transitioning acquired technology and related infrastructures into our existing product offerings;- difficulty maintaining security and privacy standards of acquired technology consistent with our existing products;- potential financial and credit risks associated with the acquired businesses or their customers;- the need to implement internal controls, procedures, and policies at the acquired companies;- the need to comply with additional laws and regulations applicable to the acquired businesses; and - the income and indirect tax impacts of any such acquisitions.
Our failure to address these risks or other problems encountered in connection with our past or future acquisitions and investments could cause us to fail to realize the anticipated benefits of such acquisitions or investments and negatively impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Tech & Innovation
Total Risks: 10/58 (17%)Above Sector Average
Innovation / R&D3 | 5.2%
Innovation / R&D - Risk 1
Our ability to introduce new products and features is dependent on adequate development resources. If we do not adequately fund our development efforts, we may not be able to compete effectively and our business and operating results may be harmed.Innovation / R&D - Risk 2
We may not successfully develop or introduce new and enhanced products that achieve market acceptance, or successfully integrate acquired products or services with our existing products, and our business could be harmed and our revenue could suffer as a result.Our ability to attract new customers and increase revenue from existing customers will likely depend upon the successful development, introduction, and customer acceptance of new and enhanced versions of our product offerings and on our ability to integrate any products and services that we may acquire, as well as our ability to add new functionality and respond to technological advancements. Moreover, if we are unable to expand our product offerings, our customers could migrate to competitors. Our business could be harmed if we fail to deliver new versions, upgrades, or other enhancements to our existing products to meet customer needs on a timely and cost-effective basis. Unexpected delays in releasing new or enhanced versions of our product offerings, or errors following their release, could result in loss of sales, delay in market acceptance, or customer claims against us, any of which could harm our business. The success of any new product depends on several factors, including timely completion, adequate quality testing, and market acceptance. We may not be able to develop new products successfully or to introduce and gain market acceptance of new solutions in a timely manner, or at all. If we are unable to develop new applications or products that address our customers' needs, or to enhance and improve our product offerings in a timely manner, we may not be able to maintain or increase customer use of our products.
Innovation / R&D - Risk 3
We may need to make significant investments in software development and equipment to improve our business.To improve the scalability, security, performance, efficiency, availability, and failover aspects of our product offerings, and to support the expansion of our product offerings and stay competitive, we may need to make significant capital equipment expenditures and also invest in additional software and infrastructure development. If we experience increasing demand in subscriptions, we may not be able to augment our infrastructure quickly enough to accommodate such increasing demand. To reach the goal of supporting the increasing demand, we will need additional capital to make the investments in software development and equipment either through operations or through financing. Additionally, we are continually updating our software, creating expenses for us. We may also need to review or revise our software architecture and user experience as we grow, which may require significant resources and investments. Any of these factors could negatively impact our business and results of operations.
Trade Secrets2 | 3.4%
Trade Secrets - Risk 1
Third parties may initiate legal proceedings alleging that we are infringing or otherwise violating their intellectual property rights, the outcome of which would be uncertain and could harm our business.Trade Secrets - Risk 2
Failure to protect or enforce our intellectual property rights could harm our business and results of operations.To establish and protect our proprietary rights, we rely on a combination of trademarks and trade secrets, including know-how, license agreements, confidentiality procedures, non-disclosure agreements with third parties, employee disclosure and invention assignment agreements, and other contractual rights. As of December 31, 2023, we held two registered trademarks in the United States: Banzai and Demio. We believe that our intellectual property is an essential asset of our business. If we do not adequately protect our intellectual property, our brand and reputation could be harmed and competitors may be able to use our technologies and erode or negate any competitive advantage we may have, which could harm our business, negatively affect our position in the marketplace, limit our ability to commercialize our technology, and delay or render impossible our achievement of profitability. A failure to protect our intellectual property in a cost-effective and meaningful manner could have a material adverse effect on our ability to compete. We regard the protection of our intellectual property as critical to our success.
We strive to protect our intellectual property rights by relying on federal, state, and common law rights and other rights provided under foreign laws. These laws are subject to change at any time and could further restrict our ability to protect or enforce our intellectual property rights. In addition, the existing laws of certain foreign countries in which we operate may not protect our intellectual property rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States.
We generally enter into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with our employees and contractors, and confidentiality agreements with other parties, with whom we conduct business in order to limit access to, and disclosure and use of, our proprietary information. However, we may not be successful in executing these agreements with every party who has access to our confidential information or contributes to the development of our intellectual property.
The agreements that we execute may be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for any such breach. These contractual arrangements and the other steps we have taken to protect our intellectual property may not prevent the misappropriation of our intellectual property or deter independent development of similar intellectual property by others.
Obtaining and maintaining effective intellectual property rights is expensive, including the costs of monitoring unauthorized use of our intellectual property and defending our rights. We make business decisions about when to seek patent protection for a particular technology and when to rely upon trade secret protection, and the approach we select may ultimately prove to be inadequate. We strive to protect certain of our intellectual property rights through filing applications for trademarks, patents, and domain names in a number of jurisdictions, a process that is expensive and may not be successful in all jurisdictions. However, there is no assurance that any resulting patents or other intellectual property rights will adequately protect our intellectual property, or provide us with any competitive advantages. Moreover, we cannot guarantee that any of our pending patent or trademark applications will issue or be approved. Even where we have intellectual property rights, they may later be found to be unenforceable or have a limited scope of enforceability. In addition, we may not seek to pursue such protection in every jurisdiction. The United States Patent and Trademark Office also requires compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment, and other similar provisions during the patent application process and after a patent has issued. Noncompliance with such requirements and processes may result in abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. In such an event, our competitors might be able to develop and commercialize substantially similar and competing applications, which would harm our business.
We believe it is important to maintain, protect, and enhance our brands. Accordingly, we pursue the registration of domain names and our trademarks and service marks in the United States. Third parties may challenge our use of our trademarks, oppose our trademark applications, or otherwise impede our efforts to protect our intellectual property in certain jurisdictions. In the event that we are unable to register our trademarks in certain jurisdictions, we could be forced to rebrand our solutions, which would result in loss of brand recognition and could require us to devote resources to advertising and marketing new brands. Our competitors and others could also attempt to capitalize on our brand recognition by using domain names or business names similar to ours. Domain names similar to ours have been registered in the United States and elsewhere. We may be unable to prevent third parties from acquiring or using domain names and other trademarks that infringe on, are similar to, or otherwise decrease the value of, our brands, trademarks, or service marks. We also may incur significant costs in enforcing our trademarks against those who attempt to imitate our brand and other valuable trademarks and service marks.
In order to protect our intellectual property rights, we may be required to spend significant resources to monitor and protect these rights. We may not be able to detect infringement or unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights, and defending or enforcing our intellectual property rights, even if successfully detected, prosecuted, enjoined, or remedied, could result in the expenditure of significant financial and managerial resources. Litigation has in the past and may be necessary in the future to enforce our intellectual property rights, protect our proprietary rights, or determine the validity and scope of proprietary rights claimed by others. Any litigation of this nature, regardless of outcome or merit, could result in substantial costs and diversion of management and technical resources, any of which could harm our business. Furthermore, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims, countersuits, and adversarial proceedings such as oppositions, inter partes review, post-grant review, re-examination, or other post-issuance proceedings, that attack the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights. An adverse determination of any litigation proceeding could adversely affect our ability to protect the intellectual property associated with our product offerings. Further, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential or sensitive information could be compromised by disclosure in the event of litigation. In addition, during the course of litigation there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions, or other interim proceedings or developments. If securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the price of Class A Common Stock. If we fail to maintain, protect, and enhance our intellectual property rights, our business may be harmed and the market price of Class A Common Stock could decline.
Our competitors also may independently develop similar technology that does not infringe on or misappropriate our intellectual property rights. The laws of some foreign countries may not be as protective of intellectual property rights as those in the United States, and mechanisms for enforcement of intellectual property rights may be inadequate. Effective patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret protection may not be available to us in every country in which our solutions or technology are developed. Further, legal standards relating to the validity, enforceability, and scope of protection of intellectual property rights are uncertain. The laws in the United States and elsewhere change rapidly, and any future changes could adversely affect us and our intellectual property. Our failure to meaningfully protect our intellectual property could result in competitors offering solutions that incorporate our most technologically advanced features, which could seriously reduce demand for existing and future offerings.
Cyber Security1 | 1.7%
Cyber Security - Risk 1
Cybersecurity and data security breaches and ransomware attacks may create financial liabilities for us, damage our reputation, and harm our business.Technology4 | 6.9%
Technology - Risk 1
We rely on internet infrastructure, bandwidth providers, data center providers, other third parties, and our own systems for providing solutions to our customers, and any failure or interruption in the services provided by these third parties or our own systems could expose us to litigation and negatively impact our relationships with customers, adversely affecting our brand and our business.Technology - Risk 2
Undetected defects in our product offerings could harm our reputation or decrease market acceptance of our product offerings, which would harm our business and results of operations.Our product offerings may contain undetected defects, such as errors or bugs. We have experienced such defects in the past in connection with new solutions and solution upgrades, and we expect that such defects may be found from time to time in the future. Despite testing by us, defects may not be found in our product offerings until they are deployed to or used by our customers. In the past, we have discovered software defects in our product offerings after they have been deployed to customers.
Defects, disruptions in service, or other performance problems may damage our customers' business and could hurt our reputation. We may be required, or may choose, for customer relations or other reasons, to expend additional resources to correct actual or perceived defects in our product offerings. If defects are detected or perceived to exist in our product offerings,we may experience negative publicity, loss of competitive position, or diversion of the attention of our key personnel; our customers may delay or withhold payment to us or elect not to renew their subscriptions; other significant customer relations problems may arise; or we may be subject to liability claims for damages. A material liability claim or other occurrence that harms our reputation or decreases market acceptance of our product offerings may harm our business and results of operations.
Technology - Risk 3
Our product offerings, solutions, and internal systems, as well as external internet infrastructure, may be subject to disruption that could harm our reputation and future sales or result in claims against us.Because our operations involve delivering engagement solutions to our customers through a cloud-based software platform, our continued growth depends in part on the ability of our platform and related computer equipment, third-party data centers, infrastructure, and systems to continue to support our product offerings. In addition, in delivering our products to customers, we are reliant on internet infrastructure limitations. In the past, we have experienced temporary and limited platform disruptions, outages in our product functionality, and degraded levels of performance due to human and software errors, file corruption, and first and third-party capacity constraints associated with the number of customers accessing our products simultaneously. While our past experiences have not materially impacted us, in the future we may face more extensive disruptions, outages, or performance problems. In addition, malicious third parties may also conduct attacks designed to sabotage, impede the performance, or temporarily deny customers access to, our product offerings. If an actual or perceived disruption, outage, performance problem, or attack occurs, it could harm our reputation and the market perception of our product offerings; divert the efforts of our technical and management personnel; impair our ability to operate our business; cause us to lose customer information; or harm our customers' businesses. Any of these events may increase non-renewals, limit our ability to acquire new customers, result in delayed or withheld payments from customers, or result in claims against us.
Technology - Risk 4
Our use of open source software could adversely affect our ability to offer our solutions and subject us to possible litigation.We use open source software in connection with our existing offerings and may continue to use open source software in connection with our future offerings. Some of these licenses contain requirements that we make available source code for modifications or derivative works we create based upon the open source software, and that we license such modifications or derivative works under the terms of a particular open source license or other license granting third-parties certain rights of further use. By the terms of certain open source licenses, we could be required to release the source code of our proprietary software and to make our proprietary software available under open source licenses, if we combine and/or distribute our proprietary software with open source software in certain manners. Although we monitor our use of open source software, we cannot be sure that all open source software is reviewed prior to use in our proprietary software, that our programmers have not incorporated open source software into our proprietary software, or that they will not do so in the future. Additionally, the terms of many open source licenses to which we are subject have not been interpreted by U.S. or foreign courts.
There is a risk that open source software licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to provide our existing and future offerings to our customers and members. In addition, the terms of open source software licenses may require us to provide software that we develop using such open source software, to others, including our competitors, on unfavorable license terms. As a result of our current or future use of open source software, we may face claims or litigation, be required to release our proprietary source code, pay damages for breach of contract, re-engineer our technology, discontinue sales in the event re-engineering cannot be accomplished on a timely basis, or take other remedial action that may divert resources away from our development efforts, any of which could harm our business.
Ability to Sell
Total Risks: 6/58 (10%)Above Sector Average
Competition1 | 1.7%
Competition - Risk 1
We face significant competition from both established and new companies offering marketing, sales, and engagement software and other related applications, as well as internally developed software, which may harm our ability to add new customers, retain existing customers, and grow our business.Demand1 | 1.7%
Demand - Risk 1
Our revenue growth rate depends on existing customers renewing and maintaining or expanding their subscriptions, and if we fail to retain our customers at current or expanded subscriptions, our business will be harmed.Sales & Marketing3 | 5.2%
Sales & Marketing - Risk 1
If we are unable to attract new customers on a cost-effective basis, our business will be harmed.Sales & Marketing - Risk 2
Our sales cycle can be lengthy and unpredictable, which may cause our operating results to vary significantly.Our sales cycle, which is the time between initial contact with a potential new customer and the ultimate sale to that customer, is often lengthy and unpredictable. Potential new customers typically spend significant time and resources evaluating product offering solutions, which requires us to expend substantial time, effort, and money educating them about the value of our platform. Accordingly, it is difficult for us to forecast when or if a sale will close or the size of any specific sales to new customers. In addition, customers may delay their purchases from one quarter to another as they wait for us to develop new features, assess their budget constraints, or forecast future business activity. Any delay in closing, or failure to close, sales in a particular quarter or year could significantly harm our projected growth rates and could cause our operating results to vary significantly.
Sales & Marketing - Risk 3
Any failure to offer high-quality customer support services could adversely affect our relationships with our customers and our operating results.Our customers depend on our support to assist with their needs. We may be unable to accurately predict our customers' demand for services or respond quickly enough to accommodate short-term increases in customer or member demand for services. Increased customer demand for our product offerings, without a corresponding increase in productivity or revenue, could increase costs and adversely affect our operating results. Any failure to maintain high-quality customer support, or a market perception that we do not maintain high-quality customer support, could adversely affect our reputation, our ability to sell our product offerings to existing and prospective customers, our relationships with third parties and our ability to form new partnerships, and our business and operating results.
Brand / Reputation1 | 1.7%
Brand / Reputation - Risk 1
If we fail to effectively maintain and enhance our brands, our business may suffer.Legal & Regulatory
Total Risks: 4/58 (7%)Below Sector Average
Regulation1 | 1.7%
Regulation - Risk 1
We will incur increased costs and demands upon management as a result of complying with the laws and regulations affecting public companies, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.Litigation & Legal Liabilities1 | 1.7%
Litigation & Legal Liabilities - Risk 1
Adverse litigation results could have a material adverse impact on our business.Taxation & Government Incentives1 | 1.7%
Taxation & Government Incentives - Risk 1
Our ability to use our net operating loss to offset future taxable income may be subject to certain limitations.Environmental / Social1 | 1.7%
Environmental / Social - Risk 1
Privacy and data security laws and regulations could impose additional costs and reduce demand for our solutions.Production
Total Risks: 1/58 (2%)Below Sector Average
Employment / Personnel1 | 1.7%
Employment / Personnel - Risk 1
If we fail to attract and retain qualified personnel, our business could be harmed.Macro & Political
Total Risks: 1/58 (2%)Below Sector Average
Economy & Political Environment1 | 1.7%
Economy & Political Environment - Risk 1
The impacts of geopolitical, macroeconomic, and market conditions, including pandemics, epidemics and other public health crises, have had, and may continue to have, a significant effect on our industry, which in turn affects how we and our customers are operating our respective businesses. Our business is susceptible to declines or disruptions in the demand for meetings and events, including those due to economic downturns, natural disasters, geopolitical upheaval, and global pandemics.See a full breakdown of risk according to category and subcategory. The list starts with the category with the most risk. Click on subcategories to read relevant extracts from the most recent report.
FAQ
What are “Risk Factors”?
Risk factors are any situations or occurrences that could make investing in a company risky.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that publicly traded companies disclose their most significant risk factors. This is so that potential investors can consider any risks before they make an investment.
They also offer companies protection, as a company can use risk factors as liability protection. This could happen if a company underperforms and investors take legal action as a result.
It is worth noting that smaller companies, that is those with a public float of under $75 million on the last business day, do not have to include risk factors in their 10-K and 10-Q forms, although some may choose to do so.
How do companies disclose their risk factors?
Publicly traded companies initially disclose their risk factors to the SEC through their S-1 filings as part of the IPO process.
Additionally, companies must provide a complete list of risk factors in their Annual Reports (Form 10-K) or (Form 20-F) for “foreign private issuers”.
Quarterly Reports also include a section on risk factors (Form 10-Q) where companies are only required to update any changes since the previous report.
According to the SEC, risk factors should be reported concisely, logically and in “plain English” so investors can understand them.
How can I use TipRanks risk factors in my stock research?
Use the Risk Factors tab to get data about the risk factors of any company in which you are considering investing.
You can easily see the most significant risks a company is facing. Additionally, you can find out which risk factors a company has added, removed or adjusted since its previous disclosure. You can also see how a company’s risk factors compare to others in its sector.
Without reading company reports or participating in conference calls, you would most likely not have access to this sort of information, which is usually not included in press releases or other public announcements.
A simplified analysis of risk factors is unique to TipRanks.
What are all the risk factor categories?
TipRanks has identified 6 major categories of risk factors and a number of subcategories for each. You can see how these categories are broken down in the list below.
1. Financial & Corporate
- Accounting & Financial Operations - risks related to accounting loss, value of intangible assets, financial statements, value of intangible assets, financial reporting, estimates, guidance, company profitability, dividends, fluctuating results.
- Share Price & Shareholder Rights – risks related to things that impact share prices and the rights of shareholders, including analyst ratings, major shareholder activity, trade volatility, liquidity of shares, anti-takeover provisions, international listing, dual listing.
- Debt & Financing – risks related to debt, funding, financing and interest rates, financial investments.
- Corporate Activity and Growth – risks related to restructuring, M&As, joint ventures, execution of corporate strategy, strategic alliances.
2. Legal & Regulatory
- Litigation and Legal Liabilities – risks related to litigation/ lawsuits against the company.
- Regulation – risks related to compliance, GDPR, and new legislation.
- Environmental / Social – risks related to environmental regulation and to data privacy.
- Taxation & Government Incentives – risks related to taxation and changes in government incentives.
3. Production
- Costs – risks related to costs of production including commodity prices, future contracts, inventory.
- Supply Chain – risks related to the company’s suppliers.
- Manufacturing – risks related to the company’s manufacturing process including product quality and product recalls.
- Human Capital – risks related to recruitment, training and retention of key employees, employee relationships & unions labor disputes, pension, and post retirement benefits, medical, health and welfare benefits, employee misconduct, employee litigation.
4. Technology & Innovation
- Innovation / R&D – risks related to innovation and new product development.
- Technology – risks related to the company’s reliance on technology.
- Cyber Security – risks related to securing the company’s digital assets and from cyber attacks.
- Trade Secrets & Patents – risks related to the company’s ability to protect its intellectual property and to infringement claims against the company as well as piracy and unlicensed copying.
5. Ability to Sell
- Demand – risks related to the demand of the company’s goods and services including seasonality, reliance on key customers.
- Competition – risks related to the company’s competition including substitutes.
- Sales & Marketing – risks related to sales, marketing, and distribution channels, pricing, and market penetration.
- Brand & Reputation – risks related to the company’s brand and reputation.
6. Macro & Political
- Economy & Political Environment – risks related to changes in economic and political conditions.
- Natural and Human Disruptions – risks related to catastrophes, floods, storms, terror, earthquakes, coronavirus pandemic/COVID-19.
- International Operations – risks related to the global nature of the company.
- Capital Markets – risks related to exchange rates and trade, cryptocurrency.